Patients are receiving inadequate information, education and advice on managing their asthma, according to the document.

STUART HALL FACES CHILD RAPE TRIAL

Veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall will go on trial today accused of raping two young girls.

Hall, 84, is charged with seven counts of rape against one complainant between 1976 and 1978 in Manchester. Five of the rapes are said to have taken place when she was aged under 16.

Hall is also accused of two counts of indecent assault against the woman within the same period.

INQUEST FOR ’CYBERBULLIED’ GIRL, 14

An inquest will be held today into the death of a 14-year-old schoolgirl whose father claimed she was being targeted by cyberbullies.

Hannah Smith, from Lutterworth, Leicestershire, was found hanged in her bedroom on August 2 last year.

In the wake of Hannah’s death, her father, David Smith, called for a change in the law to protect vulnerable youngsters from online abuse.

HARRIS JURY SELECTION DUE TO BEGIN

Jury selection is due to begin today in the trial of veteran entertainer Rolf Harris for a string of indecent assaults.

The 84-year-old is accused of assaulting four girls, the youngest of whom was seven or eight and the oldest aged 19 between 1968 and 1986, which he denies.

Jury selection is expected to begin today at Southwark Crown Court, and the prosecution case to open later in the week.

COPTER CRASH SERVICEMEN REPATRIATED

The bodies of five British servicemen killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan will be repatriated to the UK today.

Captain Thomas Clarke, Warrant Officer Spencer Faulkner and Corporal James Walters, all of the Army Air Corps (AAC), were serving as the Lynx aircraft’s three-man team when they died.

They lost their lives together with Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan, of the Royal Air Force, and Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas, of the Intelligence Corps, who were believed to have been passengers on the flight.

OFFICER SENTENCED OVER RETAIL FRAUD

A senior police officer is to be sentenced today after she was convicted of an “extensive range of petty retail frauds” targeting a number of High Street stores.

Tanya Brookes was a chief inspector at Surrey Police when she carried out the scams netting hundreds of pounds against several household names including The White Company, Micro Scooters and Boots.

The 46-year-old mother-of-four, who worked under her maiden name of Sillett, pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to five charges of fraud by false representation and three of making an article used in fraud.

’INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE’ ON ADAMS

There is “insufficient evidence” to pursue a prosecution against Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in relation to the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, according to reports.

The BBC said it understood that no charges would be brought against Mr Adams unless significant new evidence comes to light.

Meanwhile Mr Adams, who was released from Antrim police station on Sunday night by detectives investigating the abduction and murder of the Belfast mother-of-10, described his arrest as a “sham”.

ETHNIC MINORITIES ’NOT ONE GROUP’

Politicians should stop treating ethnic minorities as one homogeneous group and start appealing to the varied political views and concerns of non-white Britons, a new report argues.

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities will make up almost a third of the UK population by 2050, according to the think tank Policy Exchange.

In A Portrait Of Modern Britain, released today, it argues that immigration from the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and Africa since the Second World War has resulted in diverse groups with widely differing opinions, experiences and traditions.

YOUNG VOTERS ’TO SHUN BALLOT BOX’

About two million young people eligible to vote for the first time at next year’s general election will shun the ballot box, polling has found.

The disillusioned 17 to 21-year-olds believe politicians do not have a grip on the issues that are most important to them and instead prioritise the demands of big business, pensioners, home owners and even celebrities, according to a study.

Labour comes out on top with future voters but there is little enthusiasm for the Liberal Democrats among the young, who were previously considered part of their traditional core support.

JAIL WARNING FOR DRIVE BAN KILLERS

Disqualified drivers who kill while behind the wheel will face longer jail terms under tougher sentences announced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

Offenders who defy driving bans will be hit with up to 10 years in prison if they cause death and up to four years for serious injuries under the law reforms, which will be introduced next year.

Mr Grayling said the changes would send a clear message to drivers who flout bans and “go on to destroy innocent lives”.